Endurance
by Dread Pirate Rinja
Summary: In which Hitsugaya Toushirou proves that the mind is indeed a powerful weapon. For Kellen. Insurgence Arc 1.
1. Part I

_Disclaimer: Bleach and all affiliated characters and settings are the property of brilliant Kubo Tite/Taito. Used and abused without permission for no profit._

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_For my dear friend Kellen, who requested a Histu-**w**humping fic. I hope you enjoy it, hon.  
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**Endurance**  
Bleach

_Part I_

When the paperwork got tough, the tough… went on a walk.

At least, that's what Soul Society's tenth division captain, Hitsugaya Toushiro, firmly believed. Despite his insane work ethic, he too often became weary with the massive amount of paperwork each captain was required to keep up with. Even though he was Earth-side for the time being – after Aizen's treachery, there had been a lot of spiritual imbalance – the paperwork never ceased to find its way to him. A small attack by a pack of Hollows on members of his division earlier that week hadn't helped stem the tide of related forms and reports, especially since many Division Ten shinigami were injured in the incident. He wondered briefly if the other earth-bound captains were required to complete school-related homework on top of the average load coming in from Soul Society. And it didn't help that he was still just getting over the horrific wounds dealt to him by the Arrancar Shawlong Qu Fong. That drifter – Orihime – was an excellent healer, but she only had so much energy, and he hadn't been the only one injured in that fight.

With a loud, blatant yawn, he stretched the sore muscles of his gigai and shot his buxom vice-captain, Matsumoto Rangiku, a plea-filled stare. She looked a bit surprised for a mere moment before she nodded, offering a pitying smile. _I'll take care of it._

_Thank you,_ his eyes said in reply as he trudged toward the door, snatching up his own soul candy dispenser and stuffing it into his pocket on the way out. Matsumoto offered another small nod, this time of approval. He smirked.

Once outside, he breathed a sigh of relief and allowed himself a very small, self-satisfied smile. He deserved this short break, he decided as his stiff muscles creaked in protest. Tomorrow's homework was done, and the daily paperwork was well on its way to completion. Of course, he hadn't had much time for sleep since then, and his gigai mournfully reminded him of that fact as he felt the grit gathering at the corners of his temporary eyes. For a moment, he wondered if he should have flopped down for a nap instead, but the fresh air sure did feel nice.

With a quick check around him, he set off towards the school with the knowledge that there was a small park along that route. It wasn't much of a park, but it was nearby, and it was far enough removed from bustling Tokyo city life that it sounded like a veritable oasis to him. Part of what he disliked so much about the mortal realm was the fact that human air wasn't clean, and that his gigai was especially sensitive to it. The human sense of smell was so much more intense than that of a shinigami, and it took some getting used to. He briefly wondered how humans could stand to live in their own planet.

The park was mostly empty, save for a handful of children playing soccer off to the side, shouting and laughing as they kicked the ball around. Hitsugaya grinned in spite of himself, the child in him wishing he could join in the fun. But when one of the children happened to look his way, he wiped the grin off his face and pretended he was looking elsewhere. He was an adult, and really didn't have time to play.

Suddenly, he felt the heavy weight of a change in spirit-pressure around him, and in his gigai, it nearly sent him to his knees. Eyes widening, he realized that there was more than one presence near the park, and he recognized none of them as shinigami reiatsu signatures. Hollows, closing in quickly. Gritting his teeth, he shot another look at the children playing soccer before he noticed one of them looking around in confusion; he'd noticed the difference as well.

_Shit_, he noted. _So that's what they're after._

Slipping one hand into his pocket, he deftly coaxed a pill out of the Dragon-head dispenser nestled there and pulled it out, glaring at it briefly before he popped it in his mouth. The tingling sensation of separating from the gigai left him blinking for a moment as he waited for the soul to take over his gigai. It didn't take long; soon, he saw his own face blinking eerily back at him as if mocking his expression.

"Get the kids out of here, then go back to Matsumoto and tell her we've got trouble," he instructed. The gigai said nothing as it nodded, then turned and ran towards the kids.

Satisfied, Hitsugaya turned his gaze back towards the direction from which the spirit pressure was the strongest. Now that he could see the spiritual signatures more clearly, he picked out three red threads. Damn, he hoped that his gigai would be able to get help sooner rather than later. With a sigh, he stretched his arms out in front of him and rolled his neck, working out a few cracks in the vertebrae there. The heavy weight of Hyourinmaru at his back reassured him as he stood calmly, waiting for the trouble to find him first.

He didn't have to wait long; now all three of his targets were within his range of vision. Two were ambling along – one almost reminded him of Jidanbou in terms of stature, and the other didn't seem to have a solid shape to it. The third took on the appearance of the beastly crows he'd seen flying around the city. That one wouldn't be fun to deal with, but he had speed to his advantage.

The captain tossed back a glance over his shoulder to make sure his gigai was taking care of the task he'd appointed for it. Kids, check. Gigai, check. Turning back to the approaching Hollows, he suddenly realized what he'd just seen and whirled back around with eyes wide – the gigai was being tackled by the group of children.

_Oh, shit._

As he turned to save his gigai from the throes of a pack of wild children, he felt the familiar heavy spirit pressure of the Hollows reach the edge of the park. Another muttered curse, and he turned back to his current enemies, crouching with one hand on the pommel of Hyourinmaru. The gigai would just have to find a way to get out of the children's clutches and on to safety. This fight could get messy.

"Hoho, little Shinigami," the shapeless Hollow greeted. Its blurred figure forced Hitsugaya to squint as he regarded it, the lack of focus disconcerting. "We came for a soul, and ended up with you as well. What a pleasant surprise!"

"One you'll regret," Hitsugaya spat back, pulling his zanpakutou out an inch in warning.

The harsh cackle of the Hollow sent a light shiver down the captain's spine. For some reason, these Hollows, which should have been child's play to a captain of the Gotei 13, gave off a really disturbing aura. Something was unusually wrong in this situation, and part of him – Hyourinmaru, perhaps – yelled that he silence the three Hollows before he found out what that was. The dragon-sword was most likely wise, but as a captain, he wanted information first.

"You're amusing, young one," the Hollow sneered. "Come, let us play a bit before we finish you off."

"Tch." Hitsugaya withdrew Hyourinmaru from its sheath in one smooth motion, swinging it decisively to the side.

With an icy glare, he charged at the shapeless Hollow. However, as he swung at the Hollow's mask, Hyourimaru struck the Jidanbou-sized Hollow instead, the blade cutting deeply into what looked like an upper arm. Jidanbou-Hollow shrieked, and Hitsugaya tugged at his sword to get it free before it was flung from his grasp by the writhing ghost. Hyourinmaru didn't budge, and was nearly wrenched from his hands as Jidanbou-Hollow flung its arm out to the side. The captain gritted his teeth; he felt the strain on his wrists as he was tossed around in the air like a rag doll, but he refused to let go of the sword's hilt. He hissed when he felt one of his wrists twist in the wrong direction. With a frustrated growl, he planted his feet into the beast's arm, using his body weight to wrench the blade out of the Hollow's supernatural flesh. Using the momentum from the flailing Hollow, he flipped backwards and landed a small distance away in a crouch. A quick adjustment on his grip on Hyourinmaru's hilt, and he charged at it again with a short shout, ducking a wild swing from the Hollow's arm as he drove the tip of the blade upward, piercing into the white mask and shattering it with one blow. Jidanbou-Hollow's shriek faded as it disintegrated into the wind.

"Not bad, little Shinigami," the shapeless Hollow commented from behind the white-haired captain. Hitsugaya whirled with wide eyes; he hadn't even sensed the Hollow move. "But will it be enough?"

Just beyond the Hollow, he saw his gigai still struggling to herd the playing children from the yard. The one with the insightful supernatural sense looked straight at him with wide eyes, questioning and frightened.

"… Onii-san?" the boy said uncertainly.

Then Hitsugaya saw the shadow covering the group; the flying Hollow circled above the group of children, eyeing them as a predator on the hunt. With a muttered curse, he flew at the shapeless Hollow and took a swing at it. As expected, it dodged, leaving a path open to the group of children. His gigai hadn't yet noticed it was being targeted by the flying Hollow.

"Run, damn you!" he shouted at the gigai, which finally looked up with widened eyes and started screaming at the children with exaggerated gestures, as if he planned to chase them away. Caught up in the sense of a game, several kids shrieked in delight and took off in the opposite direction. Only the perceptive kid stayed behind, frozen as he watched the Hollow from above. The Hollow paused, preparing to dive. Hitsugaya put on more speed.

_Shit!_

He lunged the last few meters with the help of a shunpo, tackling the kid to the ground as he felt the talons of the Hollow scrape against his back. Hissing again in annoyance, he twisted mid-air to avoid landing on the boy in his arms, and ended up landing painfully on his back. A skinny elbow found his gut during the fall, knocking the wind out of him. Blinking rapidly to clear his vision, he nearly missed catching a glimpse of the flying Hollow's next dive, and rolled to the side just as sharp talons dug into the earth where he once lay. Pulling himself to his feet, he helped the boy up with his good hand. His left wrist was throbbing now; he'd probably sprained it, and the roll didn't help it any.

"Get out of here," he said in a low warning voice.

The boy stared at him wide-eyed. "But… what about you?"

Hitsugaya looked at the boy with some surprise. "I'll be fine; you need to get home, though. Stay out of trouble, and follow the guy that looks like me over there."

The boy nodded before running off, and Hitsugaya turned his attention back to the problems at hand. Rolling his shoulders to get himself to relax, he gripped Hyourinmaru tighter, holding it out in front of him. Casting a cold glare above him, he decided to take the flying Hollow down first, and then he would worry about the shapeless one.

"How noble of you," the shapeless one sneered as it watched the boy run off with an amused grin.

"You're noisy," Hitsugaya grunted as he crouched, and then launched himself into the air. The flying Hollow screeched as it saw him approach, but it didn't move fast enough before Hyourinmaru's singing blade sliced cleanly through its mask. It too disintegrated into the wind, leaving just the shapeless one facing the small captain. Hitsugaya wasted no time in his attack as he charged, Hyourinmaru glinting in the fading sunlight.

"You're feisty, small one," the Hollow taunted, unmoving.

Hitsugaya swung down at the mask, but was surprised to see it move to another portion of the Hollow's body before he could cut it. He was even more surprised when his blade met no resistance as it sliced down through the body, and he hadn't been prepared to hit the ground quite so hard. Stumbling a step, he also noticed – with a grimace – that the Hollow seemed unaffected by the blow. The Hollow flew at him, and he quickly gained his footing and darted to the side, allowing the shapeless mass to pass by him.

"Captain Hitsugaya!"

Part of him was immensely relieved to hear the voice of his vice-captain, but he still had a problem at hand. This Hollow was troublesome, and if he – a Gotei 13 captain, damn it – couldn't handle it, there would be hell to pay. He had to think, and ignore the pounding feet as Matsumoto came to his aid along with several other seated shinigami. His gigai had done its job, and for that he was thankful. But this time, he felt uncertain tension coming from his officers as they approached.

"Oh shit," he heard one of them – Yamamori, he was certain – whisper, accompanied by the grating sound of several zanpakutou being drawn from their sheaths.

"Long time no see," the Hollow greeted the incoming group.

_What the hell?_

The Hollow charged again, and Hitsugaya took a swing at the mask out of reflex. Again, the mask seemed to disappear under the swing, and he felt the blade cut through air. This time, however, he was prepared for it, and this time realized that there had to be a catch. Focusing on the soul threads in the air, he tried to pick out anything that might be amiss.

"That won't work, Captain!" he heard Yamamori call out from behind him as he took another unsuccessful swing. So he had encountered this Hollow previously. He'd have to get a report from Yamamori about the incident. Later.

For now,he glanced back at the seated officer with a scowl. _Just trust me._ The officer backed off, then nodded in sudden understanding. He was looking, buying himself some time. The red thread seemed typical… and as he looked along the length of it, this Hollow should – in all rights – be normal. But it wasn't. He was missing something. Taking another swing, he watched the thread instead of the Hollow as it dodged. Then he smirked.

_There it is!_

The thread took a moment longer to move after the Hollow dodged; so this wasn't actually the Hollow he was up against. It was simply a puppet, controlled by the _real_ thing from some distance. And as he got a better look at the thread, he realized that it extended beyond where the puppet-Hollow stood. Quickly, he shot after the thread, this time charging directly at the puppet-Hollow. This time, he didn't attack; instead, he passed through the Hollow, and on to where he hoped the thread originated.

"Captain, _don't…_!"

Even as he heard the warning and saw the puppeteer Hollow, he felt a brief instance of heavy reiatsu before he was slammed into the ground. Damn, but it was fast… but now that he knew about it, he knew he was faster. Staggering to his feet, he snarled as he faced off with the real Hollow, the shapeless one gone now that its ruse had been revealed. The puppeteer looked more humanoid than its puppet, though it was slightly smaller and had a decorated mask. And unlike its puppet, it said nothing as it danced about the captain. After a short stand-off, Hitsugaya finally tossed a quick, flashy kidou at the Hollow. As he expected, it fell for the feint and dodged directly into Hitsugaya's next attack.

The mask split, and the Hollow screamed furiously as it began to disintegrate. "_You haven't beaten me yet, boy!_" it howled, voice echoing in the stilled air as the body shattered.

Hitsugaya glared at the spot where the Hollow previously stood as he calmly placed Hyourinmaru back into its sheath. He felt the excitement bubbling off his officers as they approached, especially from Yamamori.

"Captain! That was amazing – we weren't able to lay a finger on him during the last attack, and you just flattened him like that!"

"Yamamori," Hitsugaya stated, not turning around. "This was the Hollow you met the last time?"

Yamamori paused for a moment. "Uh, yes, sir… I believe it was. We were able to discover the puppet, but by then we were torn apart. I was able to get away unhurt, but all the Shinigami that were injured in that attack came down sick with something really weird… Didn't you read my report?"

So Yamamori had filed the report. It must have been one of the ones he'd planned on tackling that evening once he got back from his walk. Hitsugaya turned to face the officer, but perhaps he'd whirled too quickly – he swayed, his balance off, and the ground began rushing up at him at an alarmingly fast rate. He didn't hit the ground, which might have been preferable, since he suddenly found his face in a massive mound of flesh. Matsumoto. But he didn't have the strength to reprimand her.

"Captain!"

_Shut up, your voice hurts my ears,_ he wanted to say, but the world wavered uncertainly. Matsumoto's concerned face blurred before his eyes, and in the back of his mind, a voice screamed at him that something was horribly wrong. It took far too long for him to realize it. _No shit! Wh-What the hell…?_ Darkness came and swallowed him in his confusion.

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_**.to be continued.**_

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_Originally posted at LiveJournal, initially intended to be a one-shot gift/request fic for Kellen. Please forgive any mistakes, as this has not been beta read. Comments, reviews, etc. - general feedback is always greatly appreciated. _


	2. Part II

_Disclaimer: Bleach equals Kubo Tite, who equals awesome. Characters and settings aren't mine, nor do I have permission to liberally use and abuse them. At least I'm not making money off of this drivel._

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Still for Kellen, because she too is made of awesome… and because she requested Hitsu-**w**humping of me. I couldn't say no because she rocks and I owe her. I'm only sorry in the fact that I cannot whump poor Hitsu-chan as well as she can._

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**Endurance**_**  
**Part II_

Hitsugaya woke to muffled voices and a pounding headache. Someone was arguing near him with Matsumoto; he could recognize her voice anywhere, especially when she got mad. Lazily, he wondered what they were arguing about, but when he heard his name mentioned more than once, he realized that he should probably try to wake up fully.

But damn, his eyelids were heavy. Rather, his entire body felt like it weighed a ton, and he was starting to notice just how uncomfortable he was. Not that he was laying on anything hard – in fact, his current location felt rather soft and pleasant; a bed, perhaps – it was more the fact that he felt as though one of those human "cars" had run him over. Five times, at least. And then backwards.

_Ugh_, he grunted, mostly to himself.

"Captain…?" he heard Matsumoto question in a soft voice, after hushing the other person with a harsh hiss.

Oh, had he actually grunted aloud? He hadn't meant to. Struggling to open his eyes, he squinted as harsh light poured rather rudely into his vision. Once his eyes adjusted, he could make out the frown on Matsumoto's forehead as she leaned over him, and wrinkled his nose when her long strawberry-blonde hair tickled his face. He wanted to reach up and bat it away, but somehow he didn't have the energy.

"You feeling alright?" she asked, keeping her voice low. Cloth rustled, and he felt something lift from his forehead before her cool hand brushed against it.

He wanted to answer, but he was having trouble finding his voice. "I-I've felt better," he managed to croak, but his throat protested angrily as he spoke.

The answer seemed to be enough to lessen a few of the worry-lines from his vice-captain's forehead, though. She replaced her hand with a cool cloth on his forehead, and it was then that he realized he must have a fever. No wonder he felt so horrid. He hadn't felt this sick in a very long time… if his memory served him well at all.

"Here, drink this," Matsumoto instructed as she helped him lift his head a little. When a straw was placed to his lips, he drank greedily, and the water soothed his sore throat and dry mouth. "You're back at Urahara's now, Captain. The Fourth Division has been contacted. Your paperwork is in good hands, and your teacher has been informed that you will be missing some school," she continued as he drank.

He stopped drinking. "How long have I been here?" he asked with a frown.

Matsumoto bit her lip. "You passed out not quite an hour ago, so not long," she replied. "But you're running a fever, and your injuries aren't quite healed yet. Orihime is on her way. Why didn't you tell me you were sick _before _you went on that walk?"

"I wasn't sick." _Sore, maybe, but definitely not ill._

Matsumoto sighed. "You don't have to lie about it, since it's obvious that you're plenty ill now."

With a frown, Hitsugaya repeated, "_I wasn't sick._"

A strange look came over the vice-captain's face, and for a moment Hitsugaya wondered what she was thinking. But it was readily apparent that she believed him, since she didn't insist on it anymore. It was hard to focus on her face, though, as he suddenly realized that his vision was blurring, and that he really didn't feel well at all. His back stung uncomfortably, and his wrist throbbed, but most of all he felt as though an invisible hand was trying to wring out his brain within his skull. And the room was far too hot for his liking. But despite all irritation, he lost the battle against fatigue, and couldn't stop his eyelids from sliding down once more.

"Captain?"

He tried to answer. The cloth was being removed from his forehead, and he heard a hissed curse and some distant shouting, but suddenly he didn't care.

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Of all the emotions Abarai Renji had seen the buxom vice-captain Matsumoto display, none of them had ever been panic. When she had originally burst into Urahara's shop with the limp captain in her arms, eyes wide with fright and voice shrill with alarm, he had stared at her open-mouthed for a moment before he had moved to assist her. 

"He's just sick, Ran-chan," he had said easily then as he helped her ease the young captain down onto a futon. "Probably overworked. I'm sure if he takes it easy a few days, he'll be back to his workaholic self in no time."

He had argued with Matsumoto about calling in Captain Unohana, and told her that shorty would be fine if they had Tessai take a look. Matsumoto told him that he had gone with Urahara. Renji offered to take care of the wounds until Urahara came back from wherever he had run off to. But that had been before the captain began showing signs of a very serious illness, and was only getting worse as time passed.

At one point, Hitsugaya had awakened and had exchanged weak words with his vice-captain. Renji hadn't heard their conversation, but he could tell from the way that the captain spoke – and eerily didn't move – that he was in trouble. Hitsugaya hadn't even acknowledged any presence other than Rangiku's, and as he was a captain, Renji found it frightening, too. Hitsugaya had passed out, even while just lying down. _Then_ Matsumoto had lost it, especially when the young captain remained unresponsive.

She had a good reason to worry; Hitsugaya's fever had gotten worse. It took both of them to relieve the captain of his torn and dirty captain's robe, and then they stripped him down to his waist. The long wounds on his back had formed ugly-looking black edges. Even the usual healing kidou spells did nothing for the wounds, though Renji knew that it could just be because he lacked skill in medical spells. That was Rukia's flavor, and Rukia – unfortunately – was out on patrol. Perhaps the thing that worried Renji the most about the captain's sudden illness was that his spirit force was far more difficult to detect than it should have been. Matsumoto _really _had good reasons to worry.

Renji hadn't felt so helpless in some time – not since Rukia's imprisonment. All he could do for now was to help make sure that Hitsugaya's fever didn't worsen, and that Matsumoto didn't do something ridiculously stupid in her frazzled state. When she shouted at him to get a bucket of cold water and some cloths, he did so quickly, and found her trying desperately to rouse the captain, using everything she could think of – soft, gentle words, angered shaking, even jokingly telling him that Hinamori was watching. Renji put the bucket down and placed a hand on Matsumoto's shoulder, shaking his head when she looked up at him. Worry was deeply etched into her forehead and mouth and eyes. Biting her lip, she shrugged his hand away and took a washcloth, dipped it into the bucket, wrung it out and then turned and placed it on the captain's bare chest. He was useless to help comfort her, too.

"I'll watch for Orihime," he offered, turning to the door. "Let me know if it gets worse." And he somehow he knew it would, too.

Renji also had a feeling that at the most, Orihime would only be able to heal the surface wounds. They did really need Captain Unohana's aid. Soon.

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The next time Hitsugaya woke, he realized that almost no time had passed, and was fully expecting to be in pain. But much to his surprise, he wasn't. Well, his back still stung and his wrist still felt sore, but the nasty sick feeling from before had vanished. A cold wind blew against the backs of his eyelids, and behind him he heard the deep, familiar rumbling, one that spoke of warning and comfort. Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed that he was lying against a large, strong body inside of a cave, and that outside the cave there was a harsh blizzard. He blinked, surprised to find himself here. He knew this place well, but something was off. 

"H-Hyourinmaru?" he ventured. His 'bed' shifted beneath him, and the rumbling ceased.

"Toushirou," the dragon acknowledged, his deep-throated voice resonating within the beast's chest, and vibrating against Hitsugaya's back.

The captain was horribly confused. With a wince, he forced himself to sit up before he turned to face his zanpakutou, an eyebrow raised in question. The dragon's expression was difficult to read, though as it remained silent, Hitsugaya had a feeling that something was horribly wrong. Why was he _here_, and why were his injuries from the fight present?

"You don't know what's going on," Hitsugaya said, managing to keep the question out of his voice.

"I know that you are here, injured, and that it was by no choice of your own," the dragon replied. "And I know that there is someone unwelcome here."

Hitsugaya stiffened, eyes widening as he suddenly knew exactly what was happening. "Hyourinmaru, I'm going to need your strength – we're going to have to fight."

The dragon's cold eyes met with his own, sparkling. "It isn't safe to fight here. Not with an outsider, and not in your condition."

"We don't have a choice." He pulled himself to his feet, testing his balance carefully.

The dragon rumbled its assent, also moving to stand. Hyourinmaru knew as soon as Hitsugaya did. The attack that sent many Division 10 shinigami to the Division 4 headquarters in Soul Society. Yamamori. The puppeteer-Hollow.

_"…we weren't able to lay a finger on him during the last attack…"_

_"…all the Shinigami that were injured in that attack came down sick with something really weird…"_

And then, the Hollow's voice echoing eerily off the cave's walls. _"__You haven't beaten me yet, boy!"_

He too had been afflicted, but by now it was apparent that this was no simple illness. It was an invasion.

* * *

Orihime gasped and dropped her first aid kit when she saw the furrows torn into Hitsugaya's small back as Renji and Matsumoto gently turned the unconscious boy-captain on his side. She looked like she was going to be ill, but seeming to steel her resolve, she moved quickly to take a closer look at the wounds. 

"These… how long has he had these?" she asked, uncertainly.

"They're not much more than two hours old," Matsumoto replied wearily. "What do you make of it?"

"It looks like an infection, but…" she began, but paused, thinking, before she shrugged. "I don't know; I never did well in my first aid classes at school. But I know that looks bad."

Renji stifled a snort – barely – and Matsumoto caught it just enough to shoot him a glare.

"Do you think you can do anything about it?" Matsumoto asked, keeping her glare trained on Renji.

"Well… I don't know, since I haven't done anything like this before, but I can try!" Orihime said with a forced smile.

Before she could actually do anything about it, the unconscious captain moaned and began coughing heavily, curling in on himself. Matsumoto immediately turned back to Hitsugaya, hovering uncertainly, and motioned Orihime to come closer to help. But when they heard an audible _snap_, and when blood began trickling from Hitsugaya's mouth and nose, Orihime fainted.

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After Hitsugaya took a second wobbling step, Hyourinmaru snorted. 

"Are you sure you're up for this?" the dragon asked in its deep-throated rumbling voice. "Though the physical signs of your illness won't pass to this side, your mind still knows of it. And you're still injured, even here."

Hitsugaya gripped the wall of the cave, and turned to glare at the dragon. "Do I _really _have a choice?" he asked curtly. "I need to get whatever it is lurking here _out_, and quickly. I don't like those who intrude on my privacy."

A low, somewhat familiar chuckle at the cave's entrance pulled a low growl from the dragon, and a glare from the shinigami. No, he knew who it was now, and he understood a lot more – this _invasion_ was directly a result of the Hollow attack from earlier, somehow. He wondered briefly how exactly the final Hollow he had defeated had found its way into his mind.

"I see you've figured at least part of it out, boy," the puppeteer-Hollow grinned wickedly. "I was beginning to get worried, that I had targeted someone incompetent."

Hitsugaya reached to his back for the hilt of his sword, only to find nothing. Of course, his sword – Hyourinmaru – was materialized beside him in his mind. He glanced back at the dragon, whose eyes shone with battle excitement and bloodlust. They were going to have to work together; Hitsugaya had never tried fighting without the sword in his hands before. Nor had the battlefield ever been his mind, but this was an inevitable first experience. He wasn't looking forward to it.

"Now that I have your attention, little shinigami, I would like you to take this message with you to Soul Society," the Hollow began.

"This is _my_ mind, Hollow," Hitsugaya snapped, interrupting it. "I am the one who will give the orders around here. You are an unwelcome guest, and either you leave by choice or I will have to force you out."

The Hollow's porcelain lips curled up into a wicked grin. "You _are _interesting. I think I will enjoy breaking you, young one."

With a growl, Hitsugaya charged straight at the Hollow, fist balled and pulled back in preparation for a blow. He did not expect to see the Hollow move so quickly, and so he was surprised when he realized that the Hollow was suddenly _behind_ him. Whirling, he barely had time to cross his arms in front of his face to try to block the coming blow. Instead, the Hollow aimed for his gut, and with a muffled cry, sent him crashing into a wall of the cave. Even as he gained his feet, he couldn't block the follow-through aimed at his face. He was even more surprised when he tasted blood in his mouth and felt it trickling from his numbed nose, and when he realized that it _hurt_ to breathe. The blow must have cracked a few ribs.

But it shouldn't have.

He didn't have much time to ponder on it before the Hollow struck at him again. This time, he scrambled just out of reach, and managed to toss a quick kidou back at the beast to buy himself some time. He would have to find a way to work with Hyourinmaru, who still seemed to hesitate despite the dragon's clear desire to fight. His eyes met with the dragon's.

_'Be careful,' _Hitsugaya was sure he heard, though it was difficult to tell if Hyourinmaru had actually spoken.

Even as the dragon's voice faded from his mind, he saw the Hollow's descent and flipped backwards to avoid it. Not quickly enough – he felt several sharp stripes of hot pain as the Hollow's claw-like fingers raked across his chest. The blow caused him to stumble several steps further, and when he slipped on a rock and fell badly, he realized with horror that he wouldn't be able to block or dodge the coming blow.

It never came. In the span of a second, the Hollow was suddenly tossed across the cave, and now the dragon stood in front of its master, eyes blazing as it growled lowly. When the Hollow didn't stand up after a moment, Hyourinmaru turned to face the captain, eyeing him skeptically as he tried to rise and failed. With a grunt, Hitsugaya gave up and worked instead on catching his breath first.

"I… Thank you," Hitsugaya panted after a moment, but he couldn't seem to find breath to continue saying much. He could still taste blood on his lips, in his mouth and coating his throat, and he was sure now that several ribs were definitely broken. He wondered briefly – with wry amusement – if he could actually pass out in his own mind. "I… I'm a-afraid I can't…"

"Call on me, Toushirou," Hyourinmaru interrupted, nearly vibrating with a desire for action. "Use my strength. You can't beat him as you are, in this place."

Of course, why hadn't Hitsugaya thought of that before? He had never fought without calling on Hyourinmaru before. This might be a new battleground, but he should never forget the basics – the zanpakutou is an extension of the body and mind of a shinigami. As a captain, he never should have forgotten that rule. In fact, it should have been the first thing he thought of. _God, I'm a fool._

_'But you don't have the time now for self scorn,' _Hyourinmaru warned.

A shifting of the rock at the other end of the cave accompanied the sound of vicious laughter, and the Hollow emerged from a pile of rock and dust with the cruel grin still etched into its mask. Hitsugaya muttered many curses as he tried to force himself to stand, but was still having trouble. The ribs in his side were grinding painfully, and it was still difficult for him to catch his breath.

"You are most definitely an interesting pair," the Hollow crowed. "This is the most fun I've had in a long while. The other members of your division were so boring; I was afraid I wouldn't have any entertainment out of your group."

"Shut _up_," Hitsugaya growled, finally finding his feet, albeit unsteadily. Hyourinmaru moved in beside him to offer a shoulder to grab for balance.

"Don't you want to know what I did to each and every one of your subordinates that I occupied?"

"I told you to _shut up!_"

"First, I just let them wander around thinking that they had a cold. But in reality I was just leeching off of their reiatsu until I was full, and then I would lure them into this place in their own minds and destroy them while they were weak."

"You _bastard_!"

"And you've fallen into the same trap. So simple, and yet so effective. Poor little shinigami-captain, unable to defend against a big, bad Hollow like me. Let's just hope you put up a better fight than they did."

With a strangled cry, Hitsugaya mustered all the strength he could handle, and launched himself at the grinning Hollow.

_'Toushirou, no!'_

* * *

Renji had just finished laying Orihime out on the only couch in the room when he heard the sick captain's cry, and Matsumoto's furious swearing. 

"Renji! Help me – he's bleeding!" she shouted, nearly hysterical with panic.

"What the _hell_…?"

The redhead ran to the bed to find that Hitsugaya indeed was bleeding, from three deep gashes across his chest. Hitsugaya's breath was coming in bubbly pants, blood still leaking from his lips, though the nosebleed had long since stopped. A quick inspection by Matsumoto had determined a bruised nose as the cause of that. But how the young captain only seemed to sustain _more_ wounds as he lay ill was beyond him. Orihime – even if she was awake – would likely be unable to help at this point.

For the moment, things seemed to have calmed down. Hitsugaya was no longer thrashing, and Matsumoto was able to put some pressure on the chest wounds. The young captain's harsh, shallow breathing was the only noise in the room for a few precious minutes. Matsumoto cast a wary and frightened look over her shoulder at Renji, and he narrowed his eyes and nodded, pulling out his communicator.

"I'll call her," he said quietly, almost afraid to break the silence.

Matsumoto nodded in grateful approval, and Renji dialed.

* * *

In the instant that Hitsugaya charged, Hyourinmaru snarled and snapped out at the captain's cloak, catching the back of it with its fangs. Hitsugaya yelped as he was jerked backwards, momentum broken, and nearly fell back into the dragon. With a brusque turn, he glared down the dragon angrily. 

"What the _hell_ was that for?" he snapped.

_'You were acting out of anger,'_ Hyourinmaru replied, again refusing to speak aloud. _'He was baiting you; he wants you to attack him.'_

Hitsugaya's eyes widened in realization. Hyourinmaru wanted to keep their communication quiet; as long as they didn't allow the Hollow to hear what they were saying to each other, they'd be more able to combine their abilities effectively against him. He sighed, slumping as the adrenaline wore off. Hyourinmaru was right.

_'What do you suggest, then?' _Hitsugaya relented. _'I'm not sure how much longer I can make this last.'_

_'What happened to your sense of caution?'_ Hyourinmaru scolded. _'Patience, Toushirou. We need to buy ourselves some time to figure out how he got here, and where he might have weaknesses.' _

_'I already know how he got here,' _Hitsugaya replied testily. _'I let my guard down in the last fight, let myself get wounded. He had to have gotten in that way.'_

_'And now it's time to deal with that mistake,' _Hyourinmaru said patiently._ 'Keep in mind, Toushirou. This is _your_ mind, after all. Your battlefield, your rules.'_

_'My rules…'_ Hitsugaya repeated thoughtfully._ 'Hang on a second, I have an idea.'_

The captain closed his eyes for a moment and held his hands out in front of him, forehead wrinkled in concentration, blocking out the Hollow's harsh laughter. As he focused, the Hollow's cackling faded, and even after that, he could hear a high-pitched shriek. With a smirk, he gave himself over to the blissful nothingness of meditation.

_'Well done, Toushirou,' _Hyourinmaru commented softly. _'But I'm afraid our fight is far from over. Take the rest while you can, and I will keep watch.'_

* * *

It was another hour before Matsumoto sensed Fourth Division Captain Unohana's gentle reiatsu at the edges of her consciousness. The feeling brought a sense of great relief; although the strange new injuries had stopped appearing on Hitsugaya's body, his high fever still persisted, and the boy-captain had been _too_ still. The vice-captain wanted to make sure he wasn't going into a coma; the very thought of it frightened her greatly. 

Renji was at the door before Unohana even knocked, and Matsumoto could hear him talking to the healer in hushed, concerned tones. Part of Matsumoto would normally have been curious, but at this point she didn't want to leave Hitsugaya's side. Not after he'd started showing signs of something horribly wrong. With a sigh, she tugged on the strong-smelling gel compress sticker that Orihime had used in place of the cold cloth on Hitsugaya's forehead, when she had finally awakened. The girl had apologized all over herself for passing out, though Matsumoto couldn't blame her; she too had flinched when Hitsugaya seemed to take on injuries from an invisible enemy. The sound of snapping bones and her captain's pained whimper echoed in her mind, and she shuddered. Time to think of other things, like replacing the compress, and how to deal with Hitsugaya's injuries.

Orihime had been unable to heal him at all. Again, the girl had apologized profusely for her inability to do anything for the captain, other than to leave her first aid kit in their hands, along with the gel compresses for the fever. She said that Hitsugaya's body had resisted her healing techniques, and nothing she could do would get around the defenses the captain seemed to have placed around himself. Matsumoto worried her lip with her teeth as she recalled the stricken look on Orihime's face despite her many attempts to reassure the girl that it wasn't her fault. It had been best to send her home, after all.

"Vice-Captain Matsumoto?" Unohana's soft voice said from behind, derailing her train of thought. She turned to face the fourth division captain, and was surprised to see some worry in the woman's eyes.

"It's pretty bad," Matsumoto breathed, moving aside so that Unohana could take a closer look. "For a while, he was thrashing around, and these wounds suddenly appeared from nowhere. He hasn't woken in at least two hours, and he's been nearly unresponsive for the last hour. I can barely sense his reiatsu signature. Orihime said she couldn't heal his wounds because he was resisting her somehow."

Unohana's hands hovered over Hitsugaya's bare chest, and Matsumoto could feel the healer's strong reiatsu probing and testing the captain's body. After several moments of silence – uncomfortable for Matsumoto, but she could feel Renji fidgeting just behind her as well – Unohana frowned.

"This appears to have turned into an internal battle," Unohana stated suddenly. Apparently, Renji had already informed her of the earlier scuffle between Hitsugaya and the other Hollows in the park. "I'll do what I can to help him, though for now, we'll need to make sure he is undisturbed. Please inform Urahara-san and his employees that we will regretfully be taking over this room of his shop for the time being."

"I'll take care of that," Renji offered, turning abruptly and marching out the door. Matsumoto could still sense him just outside, guarding the room's sole entrance from the front of the shop.

"I'll need your help, Vice-Captain." Unohana gave Matsumoto a serious look. "Although most of this battle's outcome will be up to Captain Hitsugaya, we will have to do our best to support him."

Matsumoto nodded, though she had a sinking feeling that it would be far from easy. They had a long night ahead of them.

* * *

_**.to be continued.**_

* * *

_A mini-side-note (just indulge me, will ya?)... Yes, that is implied RenjiMatsu (because both Kellen and I like the idea). _And_ implied HitsuMatsu. You see, Bleach is the only fandom that has me shamefully addicted to crack pairings. If you have an issue with that, hush. Implied HitsuHina will come later (even though I am rather annoyed with that girl right now...).  
_

_ Now that that's off my chest, please do go back to your business as usual. ;3 Or you can review and make me happy. Nyaha.  
_


	3. Part III

_Disclaimer: Do I look like Kubo Tite to you? Any characters and settings affiliated with Bleach aren't mine, nor do I have permission to liberally use and abuse them. And the only profit I make from this is a very pissed-off Hitsugaya._

_

* * *

_

_Of course it's still for Kellen, because she _still _is made of awesome. You rock, dear._

_

* * *

_

**Endurance**_**  
**Part III_

Hitsugaya's grip on his meditation was failing. Cold breeze blew against his cheek, and he could hear Hyourinmaru's deep breathing; he was back in the cave. He wasn't sure if it was the dragon's call that brought him back there, or the fatigue and pain he felt. At any rate, he was back, and he would have to deal with the Hollow again, even if he wasn't ready to.

With a groan, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but Hyourinmaru shot him a glare. _'Stay there.'_

_'This is _my_ mind, dragon. I'm in charge,'_ he chided, but obeyed anyway. _'Where is he?'_

_'Not far. He's been injured,'_ Hyourinmaru replied.

_'Good. I hope it hurts. A lot.' _Hitsugaya hesitantly pressed a hand to his side, hissed and flinched when he felt the bones grind against each other. _'Yep, definitely broken.'_

_'You're not bleeding anymore, though,'_ the dragon pointed out. The captain gently rubbed his fingers against the sore marks on his chest, and came away with dried blood. At least that was a good sign, he decided. _'Are you prepared?'_

_'To fight again? As much as I'll ever be,' _Hitsugaya said, ignoring Hyourinmaru's renewed glaring as he slowly pulled himself upright. _'You ready to help me?'_

Hyourinmaru's whiskered lip curled up into a feral grin. _'Only if you're ready to call on me.'_

_'Fair enough.'_

Concentrating momentarily, Hitsugaya could now pick up the faint traces of the Hollow's presence encroaching upon his cave. With another sharp look at Hyourinmaru – who nodded – he slowly pushed himself to his unsteady feet with a grunt. Gripping Hyourinmaru's ice-scaled shoulder for support, he shot a glare at the entrance as the Hollow entered, a scowl etched into the porcelain of its mask. Trails of blood marred the white surface of the mask, tracing along a few small cracks.

"You're definitely stubborn, young captain," the Hollow remarked morosely as it entered. "Though I like a challenge, you're getting on my nerves."

"If you don't like it here, you can always leave," Hitsugaya replied evenly.

"No, no… you misunderstand me, boy. I'm not backing out; I'm just going to have to try another way to get you to listen to me."

"I told you before, Hollow – I'm in charge here, and either you leave or I make you leave. You don't have a choice in that matter."

"Although I'd love to rehash an old argument, I'd much rather not waste time. Let's see what you have left, little Shinigami."

Hitsugaya wanted to attack, but instead paused and frowned; this time he was able to sense Hyourinmaru's hesitation. _'Not yet,'_ the dragon's smooth voice rumbled. _'Let's see what he's planning.'_

The Hollow's mask twisted up into a nasty grin just before it charged. Caught off-guard, Hitsugaya barely had time to yell to the dragon before the Hollow came crashing into them both. Though Hyourinmaru had moved in time to shield the captain from the Hollow's direct blow, it was just forceful enough that the dragon hadn't had time to gain traction, and Hyourinmaru barely bumped into Hitsugaya. The captain – unprepared for the imbalance – stumbled and hit the wall hard enough to jar his injuries. With a pained and frustrated hiss, he steadied himself with a hand on the cave wall.

_'Hyourinmaru…'_

_'I know.'_

The dragon roared as Hitsugaya raised his good hand in the air, palm open. As he dropped his hand in the Hollow's direction, Hyourinmaru inhaled and spat ice at the masked beast. The ice closed around the Hollow's arm, trailing up its shoulder and to its neck as it snarled and pulled back, frozen arm hanging useless at its side. Hyourinmaru leapt after it, claws digging harshly into the ground where the Hollow had stood. Hitsugaya tracked the Hollow with keen eyes, making note of every movement to the dragon in his mind as they pursued it.

_'Dodging left, then down. Three paces back. Preparing to make a jump towards the cave entrance – no, now coming back this way.'_

The Hollow continued to evade Hyourinmaru, though the dragon was coming closer with each attack. When it became apparent that the next blow would connect, Hitsugaya smirked.

_'Descend upon the frozen sky, Hyourinmaru!'_

But suddenly it wasn't the Hollow who would fall victim to the powerful shikai. Where the Hollow should have been stood the fifth division's vice-captain, Hinamori Momo.

"Shirou-chan?"

"H-_Hinamori_…?"

As he hesitated, so did Hyourinmaru – and then he realized that the Hollow's grinning mask was directly in his face before he could do anything about it. Another heavy blow to his gut, and he went flying back into the cave wall again, the impact sharply cutting off his cry. Wincing, Hitsugaya tried his best to catch his breath as he slowly got to his feet. Hyourinmaru moved swiftly to stand between his master and the Hollow, who was now shrieking with laughter as it approached.

_'Toushirou…'_

Gritting his teeth, Hitsugaya steadied himself with a hand on the broken wall of the cave, anger flaring dangerously in his eyes. The dragon nodded.

_'Be wary. The damage that incurs here will not leave you unharmed once you wake as well.'_

_'I know.'_

Hitsugaya's eyes closed, brow wrinkling in concentration. If he could buy himself a few more minutes, perhaps he would be able to heal himself some.

"Oh no you don't!" the Hollow screeched, lunging at him.

Hyourinmaru growled and braced for impact, but even the dragon hesitated when suddenly it was Hinamori again who lunged at the young captain.

"I'll never forgive you!" her voice yelled; even the emotional shakiness was there, just as it had been during the first fight in which Hitsugaya had felt failure.

His eyes flew open, and he barely had time to bring his arms up to block his face before the Hollow was there again, grinning in his face, just before it turned into his buxom, strawberry-blonde subordinate as she plunged Haineko's blade into his unprotected midsection.

* * *

Renji jumped when he heard Matsumoto yelp from behind the closed doors, breaking the long silence that had been nearly suffocating him in worried boredom for the previous hour or so. He heard a great deal of shuffling feet and cloth, and Unohana's quiet, smooth voice murmuring some sort of chant, or perhaps instructions to Matsumoto. 

God, if only he weren't so helpless. He nearly rushed back into the room, but he knew he would only be in the way. Something must have happened again, and it didn't sound good, as far as he could tell. When he heard pounding feet approaching the door, he couldn't wait anymore and impatiently flung it open. Matsumoto looked haggard, eyes wide with terror. He thought briefly that she could use a good bottle of hot sake, but quickly dismissed the idea. Not the time for that.

"Renji, more clean cloths and hot water," Matsumoto ordered, voice shaking.

Had this been any other situation, he would have chided her for ordering him around. Again, not the time. Behind her, he couldn't see Hitsugaya, but he could see Unohana's hunched back working over him, blood coating her hands. Without another word, he turned and rushed towards the store front, suddenly feeling like he'd been kicked. It looked bad.

In moments, he had a large stack of cloths draped over his forearm, and took care not to spill any of the hot water he carried in the shallow wooden bucket on his rushed return to the back room. Matsumoto fairly snatched it from his hands when he finally made it to the door. The side of him that once again wanted to grouse at her for her rudeness had to be stifled. She was stressed; shorty must be in really bad shape, he decided.

And that thought didn't settle well with him, either.

* * *

"M-Matsu…moto?" Hitsugaya gasped, eyes wide with horror. 

Her lips were twisted up into a cruel grin, and that's when Hitsugaya realized what was wrong. This wasn't Matsumoto. These were merely figments of his own memory, fused with the Hollow's malicious devices. His memory. The Hollow had dared to sift through the locked doors beyond which nobody was allowed to pass. _Nobody_.

"Get _out of my head_!" he shouted, eyes screwing shut.

"You have a very interesting past, young Shinigami," taunted Matsumoto's voice – _wrong, it's wrong… that's not her voice!_

"Stop it!"

"I didn't know that Captains could retain the memory of their lives as human beings…"

"Don't you _dare_ go there!"

"I wonder what Captain Yamamoto would have to say if he knew that you still had these here…" It no longer was Matsumoto's voice, but Aizen's deep and spine-chilling voice.

Hitsugaya opened his eyes then, glaring furiously at the glasses-clad captain. "Stop fucking with me, you _bastard_!" But wait, Aizen shouldn't have glasses anymore. He had betrayed them, losing the specs and his Captain's uniform all at once.

The Hollow hadn't gone far into his memories, then. There was still a way out of this without damaging his mind. Concentrating, he closed his eyes once more, placing both hands upon the sword in his belly. Slowly, he could feel it change to a claw. Opening his eyes, the Hollow's porcelain mask greeted him, looking somewhat confused. With a snarl, Hitsugaya gripped the claw in his belly with one hand, and placed the other on the Hollow's chest as he began chanting. It hurt to breathe – much less speak – but he'd be damned if he couldn't pull at least this one kidou off. The Hollow squirmed and tried to pull away, and though the beast's struggles were excruciatingly tugging against his insides, he yelled out the last of the kidou chant with authority. Blue light engulfed his hand as the spell pulled on his reiatsu, but at the last minute, he realized it wasn't going to be enough to kill the Hollow.

It really _had _been leeching off his reiatsu.

_'I hope this enough to seal it.'_

The Hollow shrieked as it was knocked away in a bright blast of turquoise light. This time, the creature hit a wall, fell in a pile of rocky debris, and lay unmoving. Panting heavily, Hitsugaya allowed himself a small, victorious smirk, though he knew he was in big trouble at this point. One hand clutched the fresh wound in his belly, the other extended out to his side to brace himself against the wall. His legs felt like jelly beneath him; he was going to fall. Hyourinmaru approached him cautiously.

_'I… I couldn't finish the job,'_ the captain said, avoiding the dragon's eyes.

_'Call on me, Toushirou,'_ the dragon insisted again, bowing down to lock visions with Hitsugaya regardless.

Hitsugaya grimaced, sinking slowly to his knees. He wanted to call on Hyourinmaru; he knew now that this was impossible to do without the dragon's help. He'd already known that, though this confirmed it. Hyourinmaru was as much a part of him as he was himself, and it was difficult to realize that he still had trouble relying on the dragon's strength, even though it was his own as well.

_'Call on me.'_ Hyourinmaru's voice was pleading, survival instincts in full force as it too realized that they both would die if the situation didn't improve soon.

He tried, tried so hard to call upon the dragon's strength. Summoning his bankai should have been as simple as uttering the word with authority, knowing that the dragon would be there, and that they would prevail. The knowledge of his own strength always had helped him call upon the final release of the dragon in the past.

_'Call on me!'_

But now… _'I…I'm sorry, Hyourinmaru. I-I don't have the strength.'_

The dragon's deep growl startled him, and he looked up to find a snarl etched into the regal features of Hyourinmaru's icy face.

_'This isn't like you, Toushirou.'_

He knew that, damn it. _'I can barely stand, dragon.'_

_'Then lean on me, and buy yourself some time to rest. You're more capable than this, boy. Show me why they made you a captain in that world. Show me why you're called a genius.' _Hyourinmaru nodded briefly in the direction of the dilapidated cave wall where the Hollow lay._ 'Show this low-life why you carry the name Hitsugaya Toushirou.'_

Hitsugaya flinched; Hyourinmaru was right. This was ridiculous. He was a _captain_ fighting a _single _Hollow; this should not be such a huge issue. He had to find a way to overcome it. Death, failure – neither were options.

_'Let me know when the seal begins to wear off,'_ Hitsugaya said quietly.

Hyourinmaru nodded with understanding, the anger leaving him. _'I will keep watch.'_

Hitsugaya closed his eyes – an easy task, in this case – and allowed his mind to drift.

* * *

The déjà-vu feeling hit Hitsugaya in full force as he woke once more to muffled voices. This time, however, the voices weren't arguing, though he still could pick out Matsumoto's voice out of the mix. He must still be in the same place, and part of him was relieved that he'd made it. For the moment, at least. Odd to think that 'taking a rest' in this case would mean to wake up… 

"Captain Hitsugaya?"

Oh, so they _had _called Unohana. He wondered briefly how badly he'd scared Matsumoto, but didn't have much time to ponder on it as he slowly opened his eyes. It was a little easier than the last time, but he still had a feeling he wasn't going to enjoy coming back to full awareness. He heard a gasp as the room came into view. As his eyes tried to focus, he saw two blurred faces hovering over his – and that damn strawberry-blonde hair was tickling his face again. This time, though, he thought he felt well enough to actually try to bat it out of his face.

He regretted the movement instantly, sharp pain shooting down his side and gut. With a frustrated hiss, he resisted the urge to curl in around himself and instead rode out the pain… until he felt the familiar trickle of thick, metallic-tasting blood in the back of his throat again. Instinct had him coughing before he could do anything about it, blinding pain making it difficult to regain control. And he couldn't breathe.

_Ohgodohshitohshitohshit._

"Hitsugaya!" he heard Matsumoto yell.

_I can't pass out now, or I'll go back before I'm ready!_

Struggling to catch his breath, he felt gentle hands helping him roll onto his back, allowing him to breathe easier. The coughing subsided, and he felt someone run a cool cloth across his forehead and over his mouth. A nasty, coppery after-taste was left on his tongue, though at least he wasn't coughing now.

"Please try not to move, Captain Hitsugaya," Unohana's voice commanded in her typical gentle manner. "You've been injured badly enough, and for some reason you've been resisting just about any help to remedy that issue."

"That… _bastard_," Hitsugaya growled, gulping air as quickly as he dared to.

"Captain…" Matsumoto breathed, voice hitching with worry. "W-Why…?"

Hitsugaya flinched at her voice – he couldn't help it, with _that _image etched into his mind – and closed his eyes briefly, wincing slightly as he felt the tight tug at his chest and abdomen from the other wounds he knew would be there. "You know that Hollow… from earlier… it's a parasite," he explained quietly. "Leeches… leeches off reiatsu, attacks the mind. It's what's been affecting the… other members of our division after that attack… earlier this week."

"Did you defeat it?" Unohana asked suddenly. _Are you still infected?_

With a slow shake of his head, Hitsugaya replied, "No, but for the moment it is contained. It… these wounds…"

"You don't seem surprised by them," Unohana confirmed. "It is as I feared. You've been fighting him in your mind, and it wounded you." She gestured to the most recent of his injuries with an eyebrow raised; she wanted confirmation. Hitsugaya looked away with an embarrassed half-nod. Unohana sighed. "This won't be easy for you, then. Your mind and body are connected; if you believe it's real in your mind, then your body will also believe it. That's why these wounds are present here as well."

Somehow, Hitsugaya knew that. It was just really difficult to convince his mind that he wasn't actually injured, that it was all in his head. _Only _in his head. He should have figured that out some time ago. Although he suspected that he might have more of a chance to do so, now that he'd been able to overcome the Hollow's attempt to hack into his memories and use them against him. It hadn't been easy either, but somehow it gave him some courage to realize that he was able to wrestle his own mind into submission to his will.

"I'm going to have to go back," he said quietly.

Unohana nodded slowly. "Until then, allow me to heal your wounds. No use in fighting handicapped like this."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes in acknowledgement, then turned to look at his flustered vice-captain. She regarded him with a relieved expression, though he could tell that she was still incredibly worried. In fact, she almost looked like she was about to cry. It was then that he realized – she must have seen him receive every single one of these wounds, and was unable to do anything about it. God, he must've scared her. _Damn._

Matsumoto seemed to notice that he was watching her expression, and color rushed to her cheeks as she turned to grab something from behind her.

"Water?" she asked, offering a glass with a straw and a smile. "It'll cut the bad taste out of your mouth."

The blood. She'd seen that too, then. Nodding – and resisting the urge to sigh – he let her baby him for the moment.

"You know, sake does a far better job of cutting the crap from your throat," a husky voice called from the door.

"Renji…"

"You look like you could use some too, Ran-chan," Renji said with a wry grin.

"And you will not bring alcohol in here," Unohana stated without even turning.

Renji suddenly looked sheepish. "Yes, Captain Unohana. By the way, Captain Hitsugaya, if you want your vice-captain to live, you'd better not do anything stupid. You about gave her a heart-attack or two with your antics."

"Renji!" Matsumoto protested.

"Don't… lecture me, Abarai," Hitsugaya replied, not fully able to hide the amusement from his voice. "I'm not… not in the mood."

Renji grinned back, but then sobered up as Unohana began pouring her reiatsu into the deep puncture in Hitsugaya's abdomen. Watching with a slight frown, he gruffly turned when he met eyes with the boy-captain once more.

"You'd better not die on us, shorty," he muttered as he walked out the door.

Hitsugaya smirked again, and then closed his eyes as he let Unohana's gentle healing reiatsu wash over him, soothing sharp pains and aches. One of many things that Hitsugaya despised about being wounded was the constant discomfort from healing wounds. Foreign reiatsu always felt weird at first, though unfortunately of late, he had grown somewhat accustomed to Unohana's. The help was welcome – more than welcome, really. He wanted to be able to go back and face the Hollow at full strength; the stupid beast wouldn't stand a chance. God, this was embarrassing.

Unohana touched upon a tender spot, and he hissed. Her reiatsu pulled back ever so slightly before she went ahead with the healing process, a worried frown creasing her forehead. Something about the look unsettled Hitsugaya, and he squirmed slightly.

"Stay still, Captain," Unohana warned. "This won't be pleasant."

Hitsugaya closed his eyes and braced himself. He must have been really badly wounded if Unohana seemed concerned over his injuries. At the same time, however, he was grateful for the pain; it kept him grounded in reality, whereas Unohana's reiatsu so often had him drifting off to sleep. If his wounds were that serious, then he absolutely could not go back yet. Just a little while longer…

While it stung more than it had before, at least the overall ache was dwindling. He drifted somewhat, not really sleeping – couldn't afford to do that – but at the same time unaware of how much time had passed. He could feel Matsumoto run a cold cloth over his forehead every so often. He heard murmuring voices outside the door. And he continued to feel better, like he actually might live. It felt really nice, once he got past the funny feeling of foreign reiatsu and the sting of wounds being forcefully closed.

For a moment, he thought he heard a startled voice call his name, but he wasn't sure if he'd really heard it. He hardly realized when the surrounding word faded, and he was no longer in the back of Urahara's shop.

* * *

Waking in a panic, Hitsugaya suddenly noticed that he wasn't in a bed, and Unohana wasn't beside him. Hyourinmaru's deep breathing caught his attention. Back in the cave. Muttering curses, he slowly pushed against the cave wall he was leaning on, and managed to get to his feet. His entire body still ached unmercifully, but at least he felt a far cry better than he had before. He might even be able to take on the Hollow with a little more success. 

The shrill, obnoxious voice of the Hollow broke the silence all too soon. "I'm impressed, little Shinigami. You're full of surprises."

_'Toushirou…' _

Gritting his teeth, Hitsugaya glared at the Hollow from across the cave. It was still bound with the kidou he'd half-managed to throw at it, though it looked like the spell was wearing off if the Hollow could speak to him. He didn't have much time.

"You know, instead of fighting with me and only making yourself hurt more, you could always sit still and listen," the Hollow offered, a crooked grin etched into the porcelain mask. Scowling, Hitsugaya took a shaky step forward. "You have a lot of potential, boy. I could help you find your power, and use it to protect those that I saw in your memories." Hitsugaya paused, and the Hollow continued. "All I ask in return is a favor… one that only you can do for me."

_'Toushirou!'_

Hitsugaya smiled wryly, shaking his head. "You're a fool, Hollow," he said wearily. "If you think that I would believe for one second that a low-life like you could possibly help me achieve this so-called potential, you're wrong. The only thing you are good for is reminding me why I'm fighting you guys in the first place."

The Hollow's grin disappeared, suddenly replaced with a snarl. "You little _brat_!"

"Get out."

Shrieking, the Hollow broke the last holds of the binding spell and charged at the young captain, claws extended. Hitsugaya shot one look at Hyourinmaru, and the dragon intercepted the beast and deflected its attack. As it passed Hitsugaya, it whirled on him to strike at his back. The captain jumped to the side, wincing as he realized that he really wasn't healed enough yet to be doing this. The Hollow was bearing down on him again, and though Hyourinmaru was there every time, Hitsugaya knew he couldn't last forever like this. Slipping on a rock on one of his retreats, his ankle twisted and collapsed under him. With a hiss, he pulled himself back to his feet, and realized that he felt blood trickling down his front again. The puncture wound had reopened. He was running short on time.

_'Hyourinmaru… we're going to have to use _that_.'_

The dragon knocked the Hollow back several paces and shot a glance back at Hitsugaya. _'Toushirou, you know what will happen if you damage this place any more than it already is. _That_ will not leave you unscathed, either.'_

_'I know that, but we both know that I can't do this much longer. We need to finish him off now.'_

Nodding slowly, the dragon took its position beside him. _'You should have done this a long while ago, Toushirou.'_

_'I know… and I'm sorry.'_

The Hollow rose from its pile of debris, and shrieked once more as it hurtled towards them once more. Hitsugaya's eyes were closed in concentration, as he felt the dragon's solid power and knowledge flowing into him as he established the familiar connection. Taking a hitched breath, he opened his eyes and glared down the monster.

"Ban… _kai._"

And he and Hyourinmaru were one, icy wings spreading from Hitsugaya's back, the air in the cave cooling even further. They flew in the face of the Hollow, Hyourinmaru's icy claw now fused to Hitsugaya's hand, drawn back in preparation for a strike. At the last minute, the Hollow dodged to the side, and the claw buried itself deeply into the cave wall. Sharp pain stabbed through the captain's skull, and he cried out.

_'Be careful!'_

Tugging the claw free, Hitsugaya turned around to block the coming blow from the Hollow, and in a quick turn, the dragon's tail whipped around and caught the Hollow, tossing it easily aside. Quickly following through with a claw-first dive at the fallen beast, the beast barely managed to roll aside, only receiving a scratch from the blow. It shrieked angrily regardless, masking Hitsugaya's gasp as the claws raked into the ground. Using the dragon's strength to push himself to his feet – he had very little of his own strength left – he hurtled towards the Hollow once again, this time barreling into the beast head-on. They both crashed into another wall. The entire cave shuddered from the impact, and Hitsugaya screamed, clutching his head with both hands. The Hollow took the opportunity to kick out at the captain and the dragon, and Hitsugaya doubled over, breath knocked from him.

_'Stand up, Toushirou!' _the dragon commanded.

_'I… I can't… breathe!'_

_'Stand up, or we're both going to die. Use my strength.'_

Grimacing, Hitsugaya barely raised an arm in time to block another strike from the Hollow, and then pushed himself to his feet. Again, he could taste blood in the back of his throat.

_'This… ends now,'_ he told the dragon.

_'If you use that here –'_

_'If I don't use that now, we're not going to make it.'_

The dragon's voice sighed in his mind. _'I'll do what I can to protect this place, but I can't guarantee that I can save all of it.'_

Hitsugaya smiled sadly. _'I know… I… I figured that… out already.'_

Screeching, the Hollow was once again charging at them. Hitsugaya took a pained breath, crouching down into a stance.

"Ryuusenka!"

The world inside Hitsugaya's mind turned a blindingly bright white, and though Hitsugaya knew he was screaming, he was sure that he could hear the Hollow's dying screeches as well. And then all went dark.

* * *

"It is over," Unohana breathed, startling Matsumoto. The vice-captain nearly didn't breathe when she saw Unohana's hand hovering over the captain's chest, feeling for a pulse, perhaps. Hitsugaya was deathly still; _too _still, especially after a brief fit of screaming and thrashing just moments before. 

"Is… is he…?" she asked, voice hitching on fear.

"No, he's alive," the fourth division captain reassured her. "And it feels as though the foreign presence that was there is now gone. Looks like Captain Hitsugaya was victorious."

Matsumoto wanted to be reassured by her words, but it was hard, considering that Hitsugaya's wounds had not been entirely healed, and that he looked nearly comatose – pale, unmoving, shallowly breathing… was he breathing? She resisted the urge to check for a pulse herself, but she didn't want to offend Unohana. The healer-captain was making quick work of the bandages, and had begun pouring her reiatsu back into the unconscious young captain to work on healing him. At least there didn't seem to be any resistance anymore to her attempts to heal his battered body.

Renji was still mulling around outside, though Matsumoto could tell he was fidgety. She felt sorry for him; he'd tried so hard to comfort her while Hitsugaya had been in really bad shape, but it wasn't Renji's fault that she was too damn scared to even try to be receptive to any help. She was more worried about Hitsugaya's well-being at the time, but she resolved that when order was restored, she would treat Renji to a huge bottle of sake in thanks.

But only after she confirmed that Captain Hitsugaya would indeed be alright. She looked worriedly back down at the captain, whose boyish face looked so relaxed. Part of her almost believed he was simply sleeping. Maybe he was, and maybe he really would be just fine. He would wake up, heal, and then go back on to working on the paperwork.

It took her a moment to realize that Unohana was regarding her from across the captain's makeshift bed with a sad smile. Jumping a bit in shock, she sheepishly looked away.

"I'll be right back," Unohana said suddenly, standing. "Don't hesitate to call me when Captain Hitsugaya wakes. I'm going to have a word with Urahara-san."

Matsumoto nodded, and then stared at the kanji for 'four' on the back of Unohana's robe as she left the room. Once she was gone, Matsumoto turned her attention back down to Hitsugaya. Reaching out slowly, she brushed the back of her hand against his forehead to see if the fever from before – it seemed like so long ago, had it really only been yesterday? – had gone. Instead, she was surprised to find that his skin was icy cold. Cold like it was after he used his bankai. She shivered and looked back to the door, tempted to ask Renji for something hot to help warm the captain back up.

A thick-voiced moan startled her before she could say anything, and she whirled back to look down at Hitsugaya as his face twisted into a pained grimace. Holding her breath, she waited until his eyelids slowly slid open to reveal his piercing, blue-green eyes, clouded in pain and disorientation.

"Captain!" she cried happily. "You're awake!"

Hitsugaya turned his gaze to her and regarded her with a confused frown. At his next words, she froze.

"Who… who are you?"

* * *

_**.to be continued.**_

* * *

_Hush, I don't want to hear it. … Okay, maybe I do, because I'm morbidly curious and a glutton for punishment. I honestly hadn't intended to be _that_ mean to Hitsu-chan, but the muse just kind of took over and suddenly I had no control. XD; Not entirely pleased with it just yet, but at least it's done.  
_

_ And for those of you who asked about it last time, I went to Osaka and saw Paku Romi do a live performance of the fight scene between Hitsugaya and Gin. It was more than incredible! Hitsugaya (and Paku Romi) owned the crowd; I don't think I've heard that much fangirlish squealing in stereo in my life (of course I contributed to it!). So not even kidding. ;3  
_

_Thank you for reading! Reviews are always a plus.  
_


	4. Part IV

_Disclaimer: Because I am far too inadequate to ever have such a brilliant brainchild, all credit for Bleach's awesome settings and incredible characters goes to Kubo Tite. _

* * *

_You know the drill. For Kellen. Her Fic-o-Doom rocks my world. _

_

* * *

_

**Endurance**_**  
**Part IV_

The two weeks that followed the Parasitic Hollow Incident – as Soul Society had tagged it – were stressful. Loads of paperwork, including reports from the Hollow attacks, medical transcripts, and damage reports, had to be filled out and send back to the Seireitei records department. Many of those who had been afflicted by the parasite-Hollow had died, though once Captain Hitsugaya had destroyed the beast in his own mind, the ones who were still infected had miraculously recovered.

Hitsugaya, however, had been a different story.

Matsumoto sighed as she flopped down in a chair in one of the rooms at Urahara's shop and ran her hand through her hair. Since Hitsugaya had been essentially out of action, she was the one who had to take care of all the paperwork. Usually, it was her job anyway, but it always somehow ended up in the captain's hands instead. She hated paperwork. But Hitsugaya hadn't been able to help out; Unohana had forced him to take a long bed rest. He'd broken it many times already, Matsumoto recalled with a small grin.

For the most part, however, she agreed with Unohana's judgement. The wounds Hitsugaya had sustained during his internal battle with the Hollow had taken far too long to heal. The captain also seemed much more exhausted than he had previously been. And…

No, he had sincerely apologized for that, insisting that he'd been somewhat delirious when he woke. He looked truly frightened when he'd realized what he'd said to her, and then had immediately grabbed her hand when she tried to get up and run off to fetch Unohana.

_"Wait! Matsumoto – I'm so sorry, I thought…"_

"_Liar_," she murmured, shaking her head. After that bizarre moment, the young captain had had some trouble recalling what had happened to him, and on occasion he hesitated before he said others' names.

Though it had been rather amusing to see him mix up Renji's and Kurosaki's names. Renji had yelled at him, but Hitsugaya had simply grinned sheepishly and added that Renji's antics sometimes _reminded_ him of Kurosaki's.

She sighed, knowing full well that it bothered Hitsugaya how much she worried and fussed over him. He hated the attention and did as much as he could to act normally, though she knew most of the time it frustrated him to have these small memory lapses and mix-ups, and that he still had trouble getting around Urahara's place. It worried her more that he worried, and it made him more frustrated and concerned about his own state. Such a vicious cycle, she decided.

"I could use a drink right about now," she said to nobody in particular, massaging her temples with her fingers.

"Good timing on my part, then," Renji's voice suddenly stated behind her, causing her to jump with a surprised squeal.

"Renji! God, don't _do_ that – contrary to popular belief, I _don't_ like giving free shows," she growled, adjusting the front of her black kimono.

"That's a shame, Ran-chan," said Renji, feigning disappointment. "Maybe a few shots of this stuff and you'll change your mind."

"You're horrible."

Renji grinned wickedly as he placed the flask on the low table and produced two shallow dishes, filling them both to the brim with warm sake. After plopping down on a chair across from Matsumoto, he handed one of the dishes to her, then took one himself and raised it in the air.

"Kanpai," he said with a nod.

"Kanpai," Matsumoto echoed, taking a sip. "Ahh, that's much better."

Renji nodded. "To tell the truth, I just wanted to cut work for a bit, and thought I'd find you here. You look like you could use it."

"Thank you."

With a sheepish shrug, Renji replied, "You're welcome."

"And what's this about shirking duties?" Hitsugaya's voice came from behind, startling both Renji and Matsumoto, who squeaked again.

"What _is_ it with you guys scaring me?" she groused, brushing spilled sake off the front of her shirt and shooting a glare back at her captain. Stupid captains and their ability to mask their reiatsu. "I'm seriously going to flash you one of these days by mistake if you don't stop."

Hitsugaya's face reddened, and Renji laughed. "Ah, maybe that is why we scare you," the red-head snickered.

Matsumoto turned her glare on him, and he flinched. Hitsugaya cleared his throat.

"You two shouldn't be drinking on the job," he commented. "There's a truckload of paperwork to be done, so I don't see how you guys have time to be lounging around here."

"I don't see why you're out of bed when you shouldn't be, Captain," Matsumoto replied with a smirk. "Didn't Unohana extend your sick leave yesterday? Besides, I've done a fair share of paperwork today, thank you very much. I need a break every once in a while, since I'm not a workaholic like you."

"Don't backtalk me," Hitsugaya said with mock-offense. "I might have to report you."

Matsumoto's grin widened. "You love me too much."

Hitsugaya glared, and then turned, waving a hand dismissively. "I won't tell if you won't. Just… don't make a mess, get your work done, and _stay quiet_."

Renji snickered.

"Yes, _sir_," Matsumoto replied, saluting the captain's back as he retreated.

"You know, we could get in serious trouble for talking so casually to a captain," Renji noted after he downed his serving and poured himself another. "Looks like we're both lucky that he's off-duty and in decent spirits."

Matsumoto stared down into her sake thoughtfully. Though Renji had meant it light-heartedly, it made her think about the situation again. Hitsugaya had seemed to be in a somewhat better mood of late, but maybe that was because he'd gotten more rest, and his wounds – both physical and mental – were mending. She shouldn't be so worried about him, since he was so obviously improving.

"…Ran-chan?" He was giving her a worried look.

"You're right, I shouldn't worry about him," she sighed, swallowing the contents of her dish with one gulp. After a dramatic sigh, she grinned back at the red-headed vice-captain. "As long as we don't get _too_ drunk, I think he'll keep our secret."

"You're just as bad as I am." He grinned.

"Oh hush. Here, pour me another."

After several more rounds, she was blissfully unconcerned with _any_thing.

* * *

For a while after waking, Hitsugaya felt as though a part of him was missing. Something important. Something… _vital_. And try as he might to remember what it was, the memory teased him at the edges of his memory, though still eluding him entirely, often resulting in a massive headache. It was frustrating. But he had never liked being the center of attention, so he refused to mention it to _anyone_, at least until he could figure out part of what he was missing. 

Trying to act like everything was normal proved to be more difficult than he'd thought.

At first, names and faces gave him trouble, but once those started sliding back into place in his mind with the relevant details, the next missing information was what had happened to him. He was badly wounded when he'd finally come to consciousness, and he had expected that. But he wasn't sure _why_ or _how _he had been injured. Something really awful had happened, and he hadn't been the only one affected. Other members of his division had been killed.

And that threw him off; why did he remember some things so easily – he was the tenth division captain of the Gotei 13, he had a lot of responsibility as a result of that position, he was hailed as a genius – but other things were more difficult. How had he become a captain? Why was he a genius? Where… where was that last part of him that he was missing?

He had very few places mortal-side where he could think, and all of them were outdoors. With Unohana's order of bed rest, going to any of these havens had been prohibited, and he had quickly grown fidgety. He knew why he had to rest; it was painful to wander around due to half-healed wounds and broken bones, he often tired easily, and his headaches were often debilitating. The inability to think clearly had driven him to the point of insanity. Unohana had to know that he was blatantly breaking his bed rest order, but even if she did, she never said anything about it.

At first, he hadn't gone far from Urahara's shop. There was a park nearby, and somehow that had struck him as an important step to what had happened. Something to do with a park. Not sure how that fit into his memories, but it was a start. It was quiet there on one of the benches under a tree, and he had gratefully plopped down on it the first time when he'd realized just how much energy it took to get there in the first place. The sounds of children shrieking in joyful play had snagged his attention as he stared out into nothing. That too seemed important.

Park, and children. Had they been ambushed? By what? No, he knew that answer… it had to be some kind of Hollow. He'd heard Unohana and Matsumoto mention something along those lines, though never directly to him. They seemed to be testing him, and that too annoyed him. With a sigh, he'd realized he'd gone completely off-track.

Park, children, and Hollows attacking. As a captain, he should have been able to handle them easily, especially since he was able to… do something. Again, another elusive memory, and this one seemed to be very important, but for some reason it wasn't coming to mind. He'd tried chasing after the memory for hours until Matsumoto had come running to the park in a panic, looking for him. He almost didn't blame her, especially when he nearly passed out on her on the way back.

Matsumoto hadn't said anything about the incident to Unohana, but she'd kept a much closer watch on him after that. At least for a week or so. He had been tempted to ask her some questions during that time – about his injuries, himself – but he wasn't sure if they would cause her to worry.

Not being able to talk to anyone had him feeling lonely, and he was pretty sure he hadn't felt that way in quite some time. Was that what he was missing – someone to talk to? That thought worried him, because if that person was no longer there… someone important had died.

He wondered briefly if that person had been close to him.

* * *

The wounds were still healing, though progress had been made since the ordeal two weeks prior. Unohana's delicate hands brushed over the mending tears in the young captain's skin, probing for any forming problems. Hitsugaya still seemed to feel some pain, obvious when he tensed his muscles and hissed quietly from time to time, but it was always difficult to get him to admit to it. He'd complained of headaches as well. She suspected at first that he might have had a secondary infection; however, her opinion changed as she realized that Hitsugaya sometimes had trouble remembering little things. He always got them correct in the end, but the slip-ups were disconcerting the captain. As was the bed rest, but that was another issue entirely. 

Matsumoto had mentioned the issue to Unohana as well, but had commented on Hitsugaya's ability to mask his reiatsu so well lately. Unohana didn't have the heart to tell her that Hitsugaya probably wasn't purposely masking it. The Hollow had drained him of much of his reiatsu, and it was taking a long time for him to recover it. What made it worse was the fact that she was sure Hitsugaya didn't realize just how low his reiatsu levels were.

"How have your headaches been lately?" Unohana asked suddenly, breaking the clinical silence that had grown since she'd started her examination.

Hitsugaya paused for a moment before he replied. "Better," he said, but she could tell that he still had more to say. He hesitated again, and then seemed to think better of it and kept silent.

"Vice-Captain Hinamori sent you a message," Unohana tried to change the subject. "She heard about the incident and wanted to speak with you over the communication channel if possible. She sounded really worried."

"Hn," Hitsugaya grunted, though the fourth division captain was pleased to see him blush ever so slightly. "I'll do that tomorrow."

Unohana smiled her approval, and then finished placing tape across his still-healing ribs. Those would likely take the longest to heal, considering how badly they'd been cracked and bruised. The other wounds were finally closed enough that she only had to apply light bandages, which she replaced. When she was finished, she waited patiently as Hitsugaya drew the plain yukata sleeves back over his shoulders and tightened the obi at his waist. And when he looked like he wanted to say something, she waited again as he hesitated.

"Captain Unohana…" he finally began after a few moments' silence. "I… I'm having trouble remembering what happened."

Ah, so he was experiencing some memory loss. She nodded, inviting him to speak more about it, though she had her suspicions. The Hollow might have done some damage to his mind.

"Nobody seems to want to talk about what happened, and I can't quite seem to understand why I… my memory seems to be… missing something. Could… would you please tell me what happened?" His brow was wrinkled in worry and frustration, eyes pleading with her for some answers.

She sighed. "I wasn't sure if you were actually having trouble remembering the whole ordeal, or if you just didn't want to talk about it," she said finally. "I was waiting for you to say something about it first."

And she told him, at least what she knew. She kept talking until he suddenly cried out, clutched his head, and then lost consciousness.

* * *

He was alone in an icy cave, a blizzard blowing furiously outside the entrance. This was a very familiar place, though the walls of the cave were in shambles, as if some great battle had taken place there. His entire body felt heavy and horribly weak, and he could tell that something was missing from the picture. A presence, faint, tugged at the edges of his consciousness. 

"Is anyone here?" he asked, though his voice sounded far feebler than he thought it should have. Nothing – nobody – answered, except for the echo of his own voice. He suddenly felt very alone, and it unsettled him.

_I… I don't want to be here. Not yet. Please… let me out!_

Everything faded to gray, and he remembered nothing.

* * *

Unohana had ordered at least another week of bed rest after the headache, and Hitsugaya nearly screamed with frustration. He was so close to shifting the puzzle pieces back into place that it was infuriating to have so much missing. 

He knew now that he'd somehow been infected by a parasitic Hollow, and that his reiatsu had been drained and he'd been injured as a result. From that information, he could determine that he'd sustained damage to his mind in the fight, and that the cave he'd dreamt about had been the battlefield. But other than that, he was at a loss, and a bit worried. The faint presence he was sure he'd detected in his mind – was that the Hollow? Had he truly defeated it? Missing that last bit of knowledge was disturbing. To still have the parasite in his mind… was a truly frightening thought. Part of him didn't want to think about it, but he knew it would be dangerous.

Until Unohana lifted the bed rest order, he was stuck in the mortal's realm and would be unable to seek help from Seireitei. He decided that he would use the time to go over all the reports from the incident in order to get a better picture of what had happened, and hoping that something – _any_thing, at this point – would jog his memory.

Hinamori's call earlier in the day had soothed a few frayed nerves. For some time, he had been worried that she only cared about Aizen, but the fact that she had been concerned for his sake somehow put him in a better mood. In fact, just after he'd concluded the communication – and had been "sent back to bed" by Unohana – he'd caught Matsumoto and Renji drinking on the job, and wasn't even in the mood to be angry with them for it. He'd managed to sneak a few of the incident reports from the room while they were joking around.

With a sigh, Hitsugaya knelt down on the futon that had been laid out for him, and spread the reports out in front of him. He'd been able to snag a little of everything – medical reports of other division ten victims, eyewitness reports at both Hollow attacks, his own medical report (courtesy of Unohana), and even a few blood test results from those infected. With a sigh, he decided to start with his own medical reports.

Which he quickly put aside as soon as he saw just how bad the situation got. His injuries throbbed with the recollection, though he knew it was just ghost pain. He snagged the medical reports of the other victims next, and was surprised to discover that none of them had experienced memory loss. He was even more surprised to read that their reiatsu had simply run out, and that most of them had died – but all the deaths were from the earlier infections. The ones who had survived up until his own infection had miraculously survived.

Depleted reiatsu. It confirmed what Unohana told him he'd said at one point during his own brutal battle. When he really thought about it, he realized that his own reiatsu level was still pretty low. People had been experiencing trouble detecting his presence, and he wasn't even trying to hide it. Troubling, but it was a clue.

He came across the report documenting his own battle with the Hollows in the park down the street. So that's what the park and the children had been about. Reading further, he discovered that the Hollows had been defeated even without the use of his shikai, and because of that, they couldn't be any higher than menos level, if that.

_Shikai._ The word triggered some vague memory of cold ice, and a chain and sickle. His head throbbed slightly as he tried to drag the memory further out of its hiding place. Distantly in the recollection, he heard a familiar roar. _A… a beast? … No. It was… it was a dragon._

With that small statement to himself, the floodgates of his mind opened, and all of a sudden, he remembered. Not everything yet, but enough.

"Hyourinmaru…" he breathed. _My zanpakutou. Where is it?_ Suddenly, he felt exposed without the familiar weight of the sword with him, and his mind was eerily silent where he knew a familiar voice should have been. _Oh God, how long have I been missing it? Where did it go?_

_Hyourinmaru, where are you?_

He got up in a panic, ignoring his body's protests, leaving the reports scattered across the futon as he rushed out of the room. Matsumoto. He had to find Matsumoto, and ask her if she'd seen Hyourinmaru.

* * *

"Captaiiiiin!" Matsumoto greeted, sloppily raising a hand to wave at Hitsugaya as he burst into the room. "You're back! Change your mind and want to join us?" 

Hitsugaya wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell of alcohol, and glared at his vice-captain. "I thought I told you not to go overboard."

"Oh, I'm not nearly that drunk yet," Matsumoto reassured him. "Right, Renji?"

"Not nearly," Renji agreed.

"Matsumoto…" Hitsugaya said with a low, warning voice.

The blonde sighed. "All right, you have something to ask?"

And suddenly, Hitsugaya hesitated. Would she worry about it if he asked her? But if he didn't ask her, he'd still get nowhere.

"Captain?"

"Have… Do you know where they put my zanpakutou when you brought me back from the… uh… fight?" he finally asked.

She frowned for a moment, thinking. "I think it's in the back room where you stayed while you were sick, but… I'm not sure if it's still there."

Hitsugaya quirked an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't it be?"

Matsumoto suddenly seemed a little nervous, biting her lip and pausing for a moment. Renji looked a little uneasy as well. Hitsugaya could feel his heart pounding; he had a bad feeling about this.

"It… it was cracked," Matsumoto replied slowly after a moment. "I – I'm not sure if it's been snagged by Urahara for repair, or if it's been left alone."

"Shit," Hitsugaya muttered, turning abruptly to leave.

"Oh yeah, Captain!" Matsumoto called after him. He paused at the doorway, but didn't turn. "Urahara came by looking for you earlier. He just got back from wherever the hell it was he went. He's in the front of the shop."

_Good, then at least I don't have to try too hard to find him_, Hitsugaya decided. Glancing back over his shoulder, his expression softened into a small smile. "Thanks," he said quietly. _Thank you for everything._ Matsumoto smiled back, and nodded sagely. She understood.

As promised, Urahara was in the main room of the shop, peering over Tessai's shoulder as the bulkier man worked on something on the worktable. Tessai was wearing goggles – evident by the strap around the back of his head – and sparks were flying from whatever project he was currently engrossed with. Urahara turned when Hitsugaya cleared his throat, smiling amiably in greeting.

"Ah, Hitsugaya-kun," Urahara said lightly. "You're up and about sooner than you should be – just like you."

"Urahara-san," Hitsugaya greeted. "Matsumoto told me you were looking for me earlier."

"I was, and you're just in time. We're going to try to repair your zanpakutou, but we needed you to be here for that," Urahara replied, approaching the young captain and placing a hand on his back with a smile. "That is, if you're up to working on this right now."

Hitsugaya nodded and let Urahara guide him to a seat near the workbench. Propped up against the side of the table was Hyourinmaru, and the captain couldn't help but sigh a little in relief to see it there. Urahara looked him over with a scrutinizing gaze, seeming to try to judge something with his bare vision.

"Well, this might be a little difficult," Urahara commented after a moment. "I can barely sense your reiatsu, and you're going to need it in order to repair your zanpakutou. Have you been able to contact Hyourinmaru since you've woken?"

With a frown, Hitsugaya shook his head and sighed. "I haven't – I… I can't hear him. Is there anything I can do about that?"

Urahara scratched the back of his head thoughtfully. "There is, but it's not pleasant. And it's not even guaranteed to work every time; it's still in the testing phase. But you're more than welcome to try it out."

"How is it unpleasant?" Hitsugaya asked cautiously.

"It's got the right level of ingredients, but the taste is… half the problem," Urahara replied. "Most of the subjects I've tried it on threw it back up, but it did work on those who could keep it down. Still working on flavoring."

Hitsugaya wrinkled his nose in disgust. "But it does work if you can keep it down, right?"

"Theoretically," Urahara replied. When Hitsugaya raised an eyebrow, he quickly added, "It has worked every time someone's kept it down."

For a moment, Hitsugaya thought about it. He had a pretty strong constitution, if he said so himself. However, he wasn't sure if he was quite ready to handle something nasty just yet, being _yami agari_ and the weakness that came from that status. But he was desperate.

"I'll try it."

The bubbling, stinking, black liquid concoction that Urahara brought out in a pan moments later was just a tad worse than he'd imagined, though. Humming cheerfully, Urahara poured it into a tall glass and handed it to the captain.

"You have to drink all of it, plus another half-glass for it to take effect," Urahara said with a doctor's air. "And you'll have to do this twice today, and once more in a week."

_Witch doctor's air,_ Hitsugaya corrected himself morosely. _But I want to get this over with as soon as I can._

Reaching out, he snagged the glass and was suddenly very annoyed at the impish grin plastered on Urahara's face, shadowed by the striped green hat. It gave the man a sinister appearance, and coupled with the witch-doctor resemblance, he seemed positively creepy. Hitsugaya shuddered, and then held his breath as he took the first gulp of the mixture.

And gagged. And nearly spit it back up, but somehow with sheer willpower, he held it down. _God, that's nasty stuff… Twice today, he said?_ Grimacing, he polished off the glass and took several deep breaths through his nose, trying hard not to gag and spit the mixture back up. It was horribly disgusting – possibly the worst thing he'd ever tried – but his determination was stronger. _Damn it, I'm _not_ going to sit around waiting and hoping to get better._

Urahara looked surprised that he'd managed to finish the first glass, and almost forgot to fill it with the rest of what was in the pot. Hitsugaya downed it even faster than the first glass; he discovered that the faster he drank it, the less time he spent tasting it. With an approving nod, Urahara took pity on the scowling boy and handed him a glass of juice. Hitsugaya drank it much slower, letting the sweet liquid wash out the nasty taste in his mouth.

"So what time do you want me to come back for round two?" Hitsugaya asked after a moment, still having trouble wiping the revolted look off his face.

"Just before dinner," Urahara replied. "I'm impressed, though – you handled that much better than most."

Hitsugaya resisted the urge to glare at the crazy man. Urahara helped him get back to his room to rest, and to sleep off the nauseating feeling the mixture left him. He was grateful that Urahara really was trying to help, but he only hoped that this horrendous cocktail would actually be worth the effort to drink it.

When Hitsugaya got up a few hours later to check on Matsumoto and make sure she wasn't too drunk to be useful, he was pleased to notice that she greeted him before she even turned around. Either her hearing was just that much better, or – on the optimistic side – the drink had begun to take effect.

It might be worth the shot, after all, he determined.

* * *

_**.to be concluded.**_

* * *

_Still not pleased with how this turned out (I wrote it completely out of order, and in a rush… so I never went back to edit it X3), but as always, feedback is greatly appreciated. Something tells me I should've waited to post this, though... eee...  
_

_ You shouldn't mix drugs, by the way. It turns into something horrifying, like nasty blended drinks and scary things. Pot and bleach are not suitable for each other, though crack goes well with either. (If you know what I'm referring to, cookie for you!) _

_ And reviews are bleachy-crack love. -isshot-  
_


	5. Part V

_Disclaimer: The Bleachy goodness is brought to you courtesy of Kubo Tite._

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_Kellen, I have to admit that I'm going to miss writing this for you. I hope you have a marvelous trip, hon. You deserve it!_

_

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_**Endurance**  
Part V – Epilogue_

A lot can change in a week. At least, that's what Hitsugaya had come to believe. The day after he'd gagged down Urahara's nasty cocktail, Unohana had announced that she was returning to Soul Society, as she was no longer needed. Hitsugaya realized then that she'd been watching over him for just over two weeks, and felt a little guilty at keeping her away from Seireitei for so long. But when he apologized to her about it, she held up a hand and cut him off.

"We can't afford to lose any more captains," she had said. "Aizen is preparing for war, and if we don't have all the manpower we can muster at full strength by the time he attacks, Soul Society won't make it."

Of course. Hitsugaya already knew that; he had a haunting suspicion that Aizen had more than enough vastrode-level Hollows at his disposal. If that was the case, then Unohana was right – they'd need everyone they could get at full strength, and even that might not be enough. He bid the healer farewell with an understanding nod, and she smiled sadly back at him. She too knew, and was worried. She wouldn't have spent so much time with him during the healing stages otherwise. He knew now too that he really couldn't take his own life too lightly at this point.

Later in the week, Hitsugaya sat back down with the paperwork, ignoring Matsumoto's insistence that he should be resting instead. There were too many questions he had that he wanted to have answered. Where had the Hollow that attacked them come from? Why did he have such a hard time defeating it in his mind as a _captain_? And most importantly… was Aizen behind any of it?

At first, the answers came very slowly. His constant headaches – though significantly smaller and less frequent than before – were still dragging down his progress. By the time Urahara had told him it was time to take the final dosage of the disgusting drink, he was more than ready for it. He wanted to be whole again, and he'd be damned if he didn't miss the dragon.

The last dose was the hardest to keep down. Urahara must've added something in it to make it even viler; either that, or he just didn't remember how repulsive the drink was in the first place. Again, he managed to keep it down, but barely. Once he finished the drink, however, Urahara cast him a worried look and told him to immediately get sleep. He was confused until he suddenly started to feel light-headed and rather nauseous.

He slept all that night, plus half the next day as well, battling a light fever. Urahara seemed to have expected it and was already prepared to deal with the outcome of the drink, as he had a full supply of cold compresses and other medicines that Hitsugaya was almost afraid to take from him. But it wasn't long before the fever and icky feeling wore off, and he felt infinitely better than he had… in nearly a month.

_ Has it really been that long?_

A quick calculation told him it had, and the thought frustrated him. So much time wasted, and so much energy lost. He was still brooding when Urahara approached him and brought him back to the workbench in the front of the shop where Tessai waited to finally repair Hyourinmaru's cracked blade. At that point, he was more than ready to be back on his feet.

"Are you ready?" Urahara asked, settling the captain down in a chair next to the workbench. "Because this is going to feel really… weird." Hitsugaya shot the man a serious look, and Urahara nodded. "Alright, then. I know you don't trust any drinks coming from me anymore, but please do drink this one – I promise it tastes considerably better than the last one."

Raising an eyebrow skeptically, Hitsugaya eyed the glass of orange liquid before hesitantly taking it from Urahara. Sniffing its contents, he decided that it couldn't be _that_ bad, and took a sip, ready to recoil. It was sweet, much to his surprise. Almost too sweet, but a far cry more tolerable than the "evil juice" had been. Finishing off the glass easily, he gave Urahara a questioning look.

"Sit still; you're going to feel a little weak after we're done here, but it's because your reiatsu is needed to make sure Hyourinmaru doesn't reject the repairs," Urahara explained.

"Just get it over with," Hitsugaya said with a resigned sigh.

It did feel weird, having his reiatsu drained as though from an open tap. But when he felt a presence growing back in his mind, he felt a glimmer of hope, and some victory. He waited a little longer before he tried contacting the dragon, and after an hour of waiting, he started to doze off. Tessai stepped back from the workbench and nodded a short while later. Urahara took the blade, looked it over, and slid it back into its sheath before shaking the captain awake.

"Hm, wha—?" Hitsugaya said, disoriented.

"It's finished," Urahara said as he proffered the sword. "Here, take it and go rest. You're going to want to sleep for the next day or so, but you shouldn't have any problems after that."

Groggy, Hitsugaya took the sword and stumbled back to the room he'd taken over, and flopped down onto his futon. Sleep overtook him swiftly.

* * *

_'It's been a while, Toushirou,'_ the familiar voice greeted, as he opened his eyes back to the icy cave. The walls were no longer crumbling, and the dragon was preening next to him with a content look on its regal face. 

_'Hyourinmaru… Why…?'_

_'In order to protect the most precious memories, I had to shield them from us. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to come back.'_

_ 'But… why didn't you tell me?'_

_ 'I wanted to see if you could figure it out on your own,'_ the dragon replied. _'I wanted proof to see that this experience took you one step further.'_

Hitsugaya was silent for a moment, allowing the information to properly settle. Nodding slowly, he said, _'You wanted to make sure it was ingrained in my instinct to find you.'_

The dragon didn't reply, but seemed pleased with the answer. _'I had to make sure.'_

_'Isn't it hard to keep secrets from yourself?' _Hitsugaya asked with a wry grin.

_'You seem to do it quite well, Toushirou,'_ the dragon retorted. _'But there are some things that are better left behind locked doors.'_

Hitsugaya shuddered, repressing the image of the Hollow digging through his memories. He nodded in agreement. _'So… will I end up here now every time I fall asleep?'_ he asked suddenly.

Hyourinmaru paused for a moment, and then replied, _'Only when it is necessary.'_

_'Huh.'_ The captain sighed. _'It is necessary now, then?'_

_ 'You needed reassurance, and I needed proof. You've grown, Toushirou.'_

Hitsugaya reddened slightly – was it egotistical to have a part of his own mind compliment him? – before he shook his head. _'I still have a long ways to go, Hyourinmaru. Will you continue to support me, weak as I am?'_

_ 'Aa,'_ the dragon confirmed. _'Only if you will remember to call upon me.'_

_'Fair enough,'_ Hitsugaya said with a smirk. When silence settled over the cave for a few moments, he suddenly broke it with a long sigh. _'Hyourinmaru?'_

_ 'Yes?'_

Hesitating, Hitsugaya looked across the cave first, and then back to the dragon. _'Th-Thank you.'_

Hyourinmaru's eyes crinkled as if smiling, and then Hitsugaya found himself slowly drifting back to reality.

* * *

"Back on the job for a few days, and you're already nearly overworking yourself," Matsumoto commented with a yawn as she entered Hitsugaya's room, which now doubled as a temporary office. He had recently returned from Urahara's lodging, glad to be out from under close scrutiny. Though he was still a bit sore once in a while, he was pretty sure his wounds had completely healed to the point that he would be able to fight if necessary. 

"Making up for the time you lost," Hitsugaya replied without looking up, but offered Matsumoto a grateful nod as she plopped down a mug of hot green tea next to him with a huff. "Thank you." And then he turned back to the stacks of papers laid out before him.

Peering over his shoulder curiously, Matsumoto squinted as she tried to make out what her captain was so enthusiastic about reading. Hitsugaya felt something fleshy brush against the back of his head, and he felt heat rush to his face as he gritted his teeth.

"Matsumoto…"

"Whatcha working on?" she asked innocently, leaning closer.

With a growl, Hitsugaya moved his head away from her. "Do you _mind_? I think you'd be more conscious about that the way you pound on Kon or Keigo every time they comment on your bust size."

Matsumoto smacked him lightly on the back of his head. "Shame on you! Aren't you a little young to be worrying about women's anatomy?"

"Damn it, Matsumoto – I'm actually trying to work on something important here," Hitsugaya snapped back. "If you have nothing better to do, then you can start working on that stack of reports over there –" he gestured to a neat, foot-tall stack of papers on the edge of the desk, "– or you could leave me alone and let at least one of us get something useful done."

Lower lip protruding in a mock-pout, Matsumoto muttered, "Aw, you're no fun at all, Captain." But she backed off anyway, and with a small sigh of relief from Hitsugaya, her large breasts went with her.

Ah, the return to normalcy. How he missed it.

Much to Hitsugaya's surprise, Matsumoto did snag the stack off the end of the desk, and took it over to the couch halfway across the room. Flopping down with an exaggerated sigh, she began flipping through the reports. Allowing himself a small smirk, he turned back to the reports spread out before him.

Though it was still a little disconcerting to read through reports on himself, they were all helping him try to fit the puzzle pieces of a very complex mystery together. Where had these strange, parasitic Hollows come from? How had they been able to talk? Why were they so weak physically, yet had nearly been able to take a _captain_ down? He might not be the strongest captain left, but he was surely not that weak.

All Hitsugaya knew at this point was that the Hollows leeched off reiatsu, meaning that they were meant to target only shinigami. They also weren't like average Hollows; while they were physically almost as weak as the average Hollow, they still had the ability to speak coherently, and seemed to have some kind of goal. The only way that there could be Hollows like that would have to have something to do with the only people he knew would be up to tinkering with dangerous things like that – Urahara Kisuke (who, decidedly, wasn't at fault for this instance), the twelfth division's Captain Kurotsuchi (though he had no recent research reports for anything Hollow-related), and ex-fifth captain Aizen Sousuke.

Aizen had a lot of motivation to create something that would target shinigami, but if he had more powerful beings – like the Arrancar – then why bother? However, he was the _only_ person Hitsugaya could think of who would come up with Hollows like that, and would be able to pull it off. Perhaps these Hollows had merely been prototypes for some modification he was planning to make on the Arrancar. That thought was frightening, but not necessary. Why would Arrancar need to have parasitic qualities, as strong as they were?

The only other answer he could think of was much more chilling. Aizen was playing with them, somehow. If that was the case, then Hitsugaya knew that he was in huge trouble. He had nearly been defeated by one of these "lower-level Hollows," modifications regardless. Although he knew he was much stronger as a result of the experience, it still bothered him that he felt so weak. Perhaps it had been because his guard was down after he'd barely beaten the Arrancar so long before.

At any rate, Hitsugaya decided that now that he had a better link with Hyourinmaru, he would train to develop that new connection to his benefit. Despite Hinamori's desire for him to try to save Aizen, he still had one goal in mind: Aizen must die. Too many good shinigami had been lost as a result of the man's treachery, and Soul Society had been thrown into great disarray. The man left a great deal of destruction, pain, and bitterness in his wake, and wounds that would never be healed.

Hitsugaya would train both his body and mind in preparation for the next time he saw Aizen. His stamina – though proved to be quite strong – still had some ways to go. Though he had won this battle, the war was only beginning.

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**_.end?._**

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_It is finished, yay! Finished it in less than one month, so I'm satisfied at least with that. I'd planned on making many changes to the chapter due to the fact that I didn't really like it all that much, but I decided that for now it'll do. I'll likely go back and edit this story in its entirety one of these days, but I'm a bit too lazy to do that just yet. XD_

_Anyway! Sorry for rambling. Thank you all so much for reading, and for commenting. I was absolutely shocked at the reception this got, since I'd begun writing it on the fly and for fun (and I barely checked over it before I posted, so my apologies for rampant mistakes!). Thank you to everyone who commented! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it!_

_(Edit 3/5/08: Am removing the sequel teaser, as the sequel has been up for well over a year now, haha.) _


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